Leaping Around

I feel the need to write something. It's Leap Day and one should always seize this extra day. But I'm not really feeling creative. So, I'm taking the easy way out. Bullet points. 

• My mom turned 90 last week. To celebrate, all the siblings and the grandchildren got together and spent the weekend together. It was great. And all this week, I've been missing my family and wishing we could have had one more day. Which is much better than feeling it would have been better if it had been shorter.

• Also in February, my youngest child turned 21. Which means that all of my children are now officially grown up. Doesn't mean I've stopped telling them to be careful or to call me when they get home. That will never stop while I'm drawing breath.

• Want to increase the visits to your blog? Include the word 'lust' somewhere. I recently wrote a bit about how I cannot wait for my first grandchild to arrive and entitled it 'Granny Lust.' I am still getting hits on that particular entry. Who knew? I am a bit sorry for all the people in Russia, China and a few assorted third world countries who ended up on my blog thinking they were going to see/read something vaguely pornographic, but then again, I may shamelessly use that trick to increase readership at some point in the future. Maybe I'll write about how I lust after various china patterns. 

What can I say. I have no shame.

• Speaking of shameless, here's a shameless plug for my little sister's stores in Rockport, Texas: The Bay Window and The Bay Window Home. If you are anywhere in the vicinity, you really should stop by and do a little or a lot of shopping. Julia has just redone both spaces and while we were there last weekend for Mom's birthday, we helped Julia and her staff unpack some of her recent purchases for the store. It's great stuff and you really should go and buy as much of it as you can carry away before someone else beats you to it. I myself brought home a couple of little art pieces that are now hanging in my studio. Every time I look at them, I smile. I also brought home a fabulous pair of white pants, a pair of earrings, and a darling pair of crocheted baby bootie/sandals for the new grandbaby.

• Congratulations to my friend Tricia, creator of the blog, Emotions with Jon Hamm, for her recent mention in Esquire magazine in an article about Mr. Hamm.

• In the last month, I've redone my daughter Sara's room as an official guest room. Said project involved lots of paint – both on the walls and on assorted bits of furniture, and sewing pillow covers for Euro pillows. Before and after photos will appear here at some point. Probably with the word 'lust' somewhere to increase readership.

• I've also been teaching my daughter-in-law Sarah how to sew. The projects we've been working on are curtains for the baby's nursery and a crib skirt. Curtains are done. Crib skirt should be finished this weekend. 

• Last night I officially finished restoring the 40" Macomber loom I was given a couple of years ago. I am awaiting delivery on a bench to go with this loom and am also planning my first project for it. I can't wait to start weaving. Photos will also appear at some point of the restored loom.

A Day Off

I have a day off today thanks to Christopher Columbus.

A day off. What a luxurious thing that is. A whole extra day to spend doing whatever I want to do. I've already slept in today, if you consider getting up at 8:00 instead of 5:00 sleeping in. Right now I'm sitting in my studio contemplating what I will do today.  Here's some of the options: 

Finish making this fabric into a dust ruffle for my mom.

 Choose a paint color for my latest acquisition for my studio.

Begin work on this skirt for my daughter Sara.

Start turning this fabric into an apron, also for Sara.

And then there's lots of other things I want/have to do. Including my drawing class tonight where I will finally start my final project. It's going to be a very busy, very fun day I think. So I'm off to brew a second cup of tea and then it's time to get started!

Emily's Dress Again

I found better photos of Emily's dress. This shows the bodice detail:

And these two show it in full length:

The fabric I used was a lovely silk georgette for the overskirt and bodice ruching. The underskirt was a satin (not silk) with the dull side out. Both had to be 'xerox paper white.'

And yes, the lace crowns are traditional at her school's graduation. Though they seem a little much to begin with, it's really much prettier than your average graduation.

Emily's Graduation

Due to a lot of reasons, I never got around to posting the promised pictures of Emily's graduation dress. Making this dress was really a journey for Emily and me. We truly designed it together. And once I got it to the point where she could try it on (something that took longer than I expected due to issues with figuring out how to ruch the bodice), then there were adjustments to be made to the dress to make it fit/look the way Emily was envisioning. I owe a big thank you to a lovely lady named Marilyn, who I met at Angela House in Houston. Angela House is a halfway house for women who are trying to get back on their feet after being in prison. I was there to take photos of students from the school where I work, who go over on Sunday evenings w/ dinner for the residents and spend time with them as part of the social awareness program at school. Marilyn is a master seamstress and we spent some time going over my sketch of the dress talking about how I could make it work.

Here is Emily in the dress. (She's the one in front,)

Not the best view of the dress, but the best I have access to at the moment. The day was made even more special because Emily received the school's highest honor for a graduating senior: True Child of the Sacred Heart. The senior class nominates three girls and the entire Upper School students and faculty vote for who will receive this honor. It's announced on the morning of graduation at the end of the Prize Day awards ceremony. I was there because I take photos for the school and I just burst into tears. And yes, we are incredibly proud of Emily.

Moving Forward

Now that I have finished (kinda), our taxes and filled out the FAFSA form for my daughters, I need to move on to the next big task: Making my daughter Emily's graduation dress. It's a tradition in our family that I sew the girls' graduation dresses. So, far I've done three dresses and this will be the fourth and last. The first two were for their 8th grade graduation. The high school dress is a bit different. It must be a certain shade of white (we call it Xerox paper white), and it also has to conform to certain guidelines. So, rather than brave the bridal shops, I choose to sew.

I actually designed Sara's dress. That was an experience. I made a duct tape dressmaker's dummy of her and literally pinned the dress together on the dummy. I had never sewn anything without a pattern before and let me tell you, it took me months. I won't be auditioning for Project Runway anytime soon. However, I was pleased with how it turned out and so was Sara.

So, for Emily, I have an idea sketched out that can hopefully be assembled from a pattern with me only having to modify the pattern. But I need to get started soon. May 29 will be here before I know it.